• Advances in Energy Research
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• 제4권4호
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• pp.275-284
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• 2016

In the present work, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) have been dispersed alone in the same solvent of the active layer for improving performance parameters of the organic solar cells. Different concentrations of the ZnO NPs have been blended inside active layer of the solar cell based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), which forms the hole-transport network, and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), which forms the electron-transport network. In the present investigations, the ZnO NPs may represent an efficient tool for improving light harvesting through light scattering inside active layer, electron mobility, and electron acceptance strength which tend to improve photocurrent and performance parameters of the investigated solar cell. The fill factor (FF) of the ZnO-doped solar cell increases nearly 14% compared to the non-doped solar cell when the doping is 50%. The present investigations show that ZnO NPs improve power conversion efficiency of the solar cell from 1.23% to 1.64% with increment around 25% that takes place after incorporation of 40% as a volume ratio of the ZnO NPs inside P3HT:PCBM active layer.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.237-245
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• 2017

Background: Solar furnaces are used worldwide to conduct experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of solar-chemical processes with the aid of concentrated sunlight, or to qualify high temperature-resistant components. In recent years, high-flux solar simulators (HFSSs) based on short-arc xenon lamps are more frequently used. The emitted spectrum is very similar to natural sunlight but with dangerous portions of ultraviolet light as well. Due to special benefits of solar simulators the increase of construction activity for HFSS can be observed worldwide. Hence, it is quite important to protect employees against serious injuries caused by ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in a range of 100 nm to 400 nm. Methods: The UV measurements were made at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Cologne and Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Switzerland, during normal operations of the HFSS, with a high-precision UV-A/B radiometer using different experiment setups at different power levels. Thus, the measurement results represent UV emissions which are typical when operating a HFSS. Therefore, the biological effects on people exposed to UVR was investigated systematically to identify the existing hazard potential. Results: It should be noted that the permissible workplace exposure limits for UV emissions significantly exceeded after a few seconds. One critical value was strongly exceeded by a factor of 770. Conclusion: The prevention of emissions must first and foremost be carried out by structural measures. Furthermore, unambiguous protocols have to be defined and compliance must be monitored. For short-term activities in the hazard area, measures for the protection of eyes and skin must be taken.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제24권9호
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• pp.458-464
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• 2014

Light scattering enhancement is widely used to enhance the optical absorption efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. In this work, we systematically analyzed the effects of spherical voids distributed as light-scattering centers in photoanode films made of an assembly of zinc oxide nanoparticles. Spherical voids in electrode films were formed using a sacrificial template of polystyrene (PS) spheres. The diameter and volume concentration of these spheres was varied to optimize the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. The effects of film thickness on this efficiency was also examined. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was performed to study electron transport in the electrodes. The highest power conversion efficiency of 4.07 % was observed with $12{\mu}m$ film thickness. This relatively low optimum thickness of the electrode film is due to the enhanced light absorption caused by the light scattering centers of voids distributed in the film.

• 전기전자학회논문지
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.534-537
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• 2019

광학적 손실은 태양전지 표면에 조사되는 빛이 태양전지 내부로 흡수되지 않고 표면에서 반사되어 발생하는 손실이다. 이러한 빛의 반사로 인한 광학적 손실을 줄이고 태양전지의 변환 효율을 높이기 위한 연구가 활발하게 진행되고 있다. 본 논문에서는 유리기판 표면을 습식 식각을 사용하여 표면을 거칠게 형성해 식각된 표면의 구조적 특성을 평가하였고, 분광기를 통해 식각된 표면의 광학적 특성을 분석하였다. 식각을 통해 형성되는 분화구 모양의 거친 표면은 입사되는 빛을 태양전지 내부로 재흡수하여 빛의 반사를 줄어들었고, 이에 따라 투과되는 빛이 증가하였음을 확인하였다.

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.57-67
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• 2021

Photocatalytic green energy H2 production utilizing inexhaustible solar energy has been considered as a potential solution to problems of energy scarcity and environmental contamination. However, the design of a cost-effective photocatalyst using simple synthesis methodology is still a grand challenge. Herein, a low-cost transition metal, Cu-loaded one-dimensional TiO2 nanorods (Cu/TNR) were fabricated using an easy-to-use synthesis methodology for significant H2 production under simulated solar light. X-ray photoelectron spectral studies and electron microscopy measurements provide evidence to support the successful formation of the Cu/TNR catalyst under our experimental conditions. UV-vis DRS studies further demonstrate that introducing Cu on the surface of TNR substantially increases light absorption in the visible range. Notably, the Cu/TNR catalyst with optimum Cu content, achieved a remarkable H2 production with a yield of 39,239 µmol/g after 3 h of solar light illumination, representing 7.4- and 27.7-fold enhancements against TNR and commercial P25, respectively. The notably improved H2 evolution activity of the target Cu/TNR catalyst was primarily attributed to its excellent separation and efficiently hampered recombination of photoexcited electron-hole pairs. The Cu/TNR catalyst is, therefore, a potential candidate for photocatalytic green energy applications.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.218-227
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• 2016

The light harvesting efficiency is counted as an important factor in the power conversion efficiency of DSSCs. There are two measures to improve this parameter, including enhancing the dye-loading capacity and increasing the light trapping in the photoanode structure. In this paper, these tasks are addressed by introducing a macro-porous silicon (PSi) substrate as photoanode. The effects of the novel photoanode structure on the DSSC performance have been investigated by using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, photocurrent-voltage, UV-visible spectroscopy, reflectance spectroscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The results indicated that bigger porosity percentage of the PSi structure improved the both anti-reflective/light-trapping and dye-loading capacity properties. PSi based DSSCs own higher power conversion efficiency due to its remarkable higher photocurrent, open circuit voltage, and fill factor. Percent porosity of 64%, PSi(III), resulted in nearly 50 percent increment in power conversion efficiency compared with conventional DSSC. This paper showed that PSi can be a good candidate for the improvement of light harvesting efficiency in DSSCs. Furthermore, this study can be considered a valuable reference for more investigations in the design of multifunctional devices which will profit from integrated on-chip solar power.

• 전기전자학회논문지
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.1448-1456
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• 2019

본 연구에서는 작물재배용 단동식 유리온실 내에 LED 광원을 적용할 때, LED의 전원 공급을 위한 태양전지를 에너지 저감과 광투과율을 고려하여 Si 계열의 태양전지와 염료감응형 태양전지(DSSC)를 유리온실에 선별적 배치하고, 작물 재배에 유효한 태양전지의 광투과율을 결정하기 위해 유리온실의 천정과 측면에 대해 광투과율 변화에 따른 조도 시뮬레이션을 수행하였다. 또한, 유리온실에서 주광과 인공광인 LED 광원을 모두 고려하는 경우 최적 조명제어에 따른 유리온실의 에너지 절감 효과를 분석하였다.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.35-38
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• 2012

In this study, we have attempted to characterize the photovoltaic effect in real-time measurement of photoinduced current in a poly-Si-based solar cell using photoconductive atomic force microscopy (PC-AFM). However, the high contact resistance that originates from the metal-semiconductor Schottky contact disturbs the current flow and makes it difficult to measure the photoinduced current. To solve this problem, a thin metallic film has been coated on the surface of the device, which successfully decreases the contact resistance. In the PC-AFM analysis, we used a metal-coated conducting cantilever tip as the top electrode of the solar cell and light from a halogen lamp was irradiated on the PC-AFM scanning region. As the light intensity becomes stronger, the current value increases up to $200{\mu}A$ at 80 W, as more electrons and hole carriers are generated because of the photovoltaic effect. The ratio of the conducting area at different conditions was calculated, and it showed a behavior similar to that generated by a photoinduced current. On analyzing the PC-AFM measurement results, we have verified the correlation between the light intensity and photoinduced current of the poly-Si-based solar cell in nanometer scale.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2006년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.145-148
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• 2006

The protocrystalline silicon (pc-Si:H) multilayer solar cell is very promising owing to its fast stabilization with low degradation against light irradiation. However, the pc-Si:H multi layers have not extensively been investigated in detail on its material characteristics yet. We present the material characteristics of pc-Si:H multilayer using a transmission electron microscopy(TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, we present the superior light-soaking behavior of the pc-Si:H mutt i layer solar cell. A TEM micrograph shows that a pc-Si:H multilayer has a repeatedly layered structure and crystalline-like objects in a-Si:H matrix. A Raman spectra introduces improved short-range-order and medium-range-order in pc-Si:H multilayer. As a result the excellent metastability of the pc-Si:H multilayer solar cell is primarily due to the repeatedly layered structure that improves a structural order in absorber layer.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제24권6호
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• pp.305-309
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• 2014

When sunlight irradiates a boron-doped p-type solar cell, the formation of BsO2i decreases the power-conversion efficiency in a phenomenon named light-induced degradation (LID). In this study, we used boron-doped p-type Cz-Si solar cells to monitor this degradation process in relation to irradiation wavelength, intensity and duration of the light source, and investigated the reliability of the LID effects, as well. When halogen light irradiated a substrate, the LID rate increased more rapidly than for irradiation with xenon light. For different intensities of halogen light (e.g., 1 SUN and 0.1 SUN), a lower-limit value of LID showed a similar trend in each case; however, the rate reached at the intensity of 0.1 SUN was three times slower than that at 1 SUN. Open-circuit voltage increased with increasing duration of irradiation because the defect-formation rate of LID was slow. Therefore, we suppose that sufficient time is needed to increase LID defects. After a recovery process to restore the initial value, the lower-limit open-circuit voltage exhibited during the re-degradation process showed a trend similar to that in the first degradation process. We suggest that the proportion of the LID in boron-doped p-type Cz-Si solar cells has high correlation with the normalized defect concentrations (NDC) of BsO2i. This can be calculated using the extracted minority-carrier diffusion-length with internal quantum efficiency (IQE) analysis.